Weekly Flylady Thread 18 May 2026

Honey_Bear

I'd be up for a Flylady meet in Florence for sure! Belovéd and I are looking at September this year (we have to plan around dog sitting availability!) and because Florence airport was such hell at 6.00am on Saturday we're probably going to Interrail it - if anyone would like to join us on the journey they'd be more than welcome. We may be able to stay with friends near Pisa and train it into Florence itself which will also reduce the cost but that couple are thinking of moving back south so we'll have to see.

The amount of dust in the bathroom really shocked me, because I did actually do a lot of dusting prior to my cousin arriving - before I realised she couldn't actually see that much so it was a completely wasted effort on my part. And as the toothbrush mug was in our en suite I have to be completely honest and admit it wasn't included in the dusting session because she wouldn't be going in there.

Meant to hit Post on that yesterday but ….

Belated happy anniversary for Mr and Mrs Jazee.

(((Hugs))) Valli on the anniversary of the passing of your mother, and Happy Empty Nesting.

Things sound frustrating Ionafan. I think you deserve a trip to Florence. As do you Valli.

(((Hugs))) MMM for your recent relationship news.

Round, I hope your journey through the NHS proves smooth and painless.

Fayolle, I'm dead jealous if your recent trip was to Malaysia. I spent several years of my childhood there and absolutely loved it.

Natty, condolences on your family's loss.

Weency - love the Tupperware Time Box

And all of that was just from last week!

We're going to score a really lovely sofa from our neighbours who are moving out. I need to make space for it and shift a fair few bits of furniture around by 3.00pm tomorrow afternoon when it will be hefted in here by a couple of strapping young men. It's jolly useful belonging to a neighbourly community.

I have a very long To Do list and need to get it cleared by 10.00am Friday morning.

ionafan

WMx2 done; S&S'd kitchen and bathroom; decluttered a borrowed book back to the children's corner at church when I went to Knit & Natter; decluttered the role of Treasurer for a church group 😀; sorted out an ISA transfer (which involved making a phonecall and then opening a new account with a new-to-me provider)

I now have 25 minutes before the fortnightly phonecall on which I support a friend, so I will clean DH's ensuite, put out clean towels for us both, let Rosie out, and make myself a drink.

xxx

Blackcats

the shower screen is sparkly clean, S&S the bathroom and cleaned the floor.

Lounge dusted and coffee table shelf is no longer a dumping ground 😀

More admin completed including a spontaneous holiday booking 💃

kiss_me_now9

Right, final list for the evening -

• Put last two loads of laundry on
• Put away toddler clothes
• Wipe kitchen counters down
• Hoover and shampoo floors (OH to do)
• Read 20 pages of my book - retiring to bed now to do this
• Do 5 pages of my 5 year diary - managed to get three done before nursery pick up, have no plans for tomorrow so will do extra tomorrow
• Email primary school
• Do something creative
• Dishwasher on
• Put away last two loads of laundry - will do this before I start reading (one load was my uniform which I won't need for a year, the other was a handful of tops, trousers and swimming towels so it won't take long at all)

Feels a bit silly saying good night at the ripe time of 7:55pm but I am tired XD So it's upstairs with my book and Chelsea flower show on TV for me.

Honey_Bear

Well done on a masterful bit of decluttering there Ionafan.

Plan made for tomorrow. I'm about a day and a half behind where I need to be.

Valli

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82005135#Comment_82005135

agreed…voluntary commitments are the hardest thing to declutter in my experience.

spare bed completely stripped, including mattress and pillow protectors. Pillow protectors can go in for a hot wash but the mattress protector/padded thing are way too shabby to go back on. All other stuff inc valance are in the laundry queue.

Washing stuck out for a couple of hours this evening.

I have also decluttered an ironing board - put out for scrap and it has already been picked up. DDs abandoned ironing board is now pressed into use (see what I did there).

Narc0lepsy

You all sound busy. I suppose I've been intermittently busy as I haven't posted but skim-read so hugs to all including relationship condolences, bereavement anniversary condolences, happy anniversary and any other significant events I've missed.

A few random thoughts:

• the lentil brownies freeze and defrost well; we had the church group round this evening and I defrosted some from last time. Special thanks to Mr N who flew round the house in preparation for the group while I was at work. The DW is now full of plates and cups (11 people) and ready to go tomorrow when the sun/light is available.
• Most of the pre-holiday stuff is done and lists are done of food to be taken and non-food e.g. chargers, 1st aid kit etc. Most of our clothes are piled on the spare bed…….
• Tax return is just waiting for savings interest statements to become available so that may have to wait until we come back.
• I test drove another EV on the way down to Dorset at the weekend. I think that will be the one. I've got a list of EV-related stuff to be done - checking insurance via a person rather than just a web site, need to have a chat with the electrician over the road as he has an EV and may be able to advise on chargers, local providers etc. Engineer booked for June to see if we can have a smart meter. I've been asking inane questions on other MSE forums and owner groups about EVs; there is so much to learn! Need to do some calculations and comparisons about providers, once we've sorted out the yes/no smart meter.
• We had a couple of reasonable visits to Mum at the weekend.
• Finally got round to having the windscreen chip fixed on my car; it had passed the MOT so I hadn't got round to it.

I daresay tomorrow will be taken up with aqua aerobics, work then home to do some packing before zumba.

ionafan

Honey_Bear, I would be off to Florence again before you could say "Michaelangelo". if only DH was fit enough. We went by train last year, and on our first full day of travel we breakfasted in London, lunched in Paris, and could have been in Milan for our evening meal if we hadn't opted for a 2-day detour via Switzerland because of the added attraction of the Bernina Express. The French and Italian legs were fine, but we were most surprised by the normally ultra-efficient Swiss railways suffering from locomotive breakdowns and unannounced line closures.

In the 25 minutes before this evening's 3-way videocall I did all that I said I would. I only have to listen to the conversation, not join in, so while the others were talking I managed to deal with four more photo albums. The empty books are sitting on the DR table, ready for DH to drop them into the black bin. I cooked and we ate, then we watched Chelsea, and in the past hour I have played tug-o'-war with Rosie, FUPA clean washing, and cut up the large shallow cardboard box in which I brought home the bedding plants that fell into my trolley yesterday at MrAl's. Now I only have to store the largest piece, i.e. the base, which I can use for children's crafts, and the rest can go in the paper and card recycling tomorrow [fer-ling!].

Tomorrow morning I must see if I can get a better quote for the home insurance than the renewal price, DH has an eye test, and I can look forward (????) to a church council meeting in the evening. DH is talking about taking me out for lunch because he has a voucher, which might just help to restore the balance of the day. Flying? Mmmm…

xxx

Honey_Bear

Ooooh lots of food for thought there Ionafan. Thank you; I've copied and pasted that paragraph into an email to myself so I don't forget such good ideas.

Today I will be tackling a list so long I can't put it on here, and providing logistical support for sofa-shifting chaps, plus running a few errands locally. Belovéd is so determined to help he almost jumped the gun laundry-wise, but in the process found two small bags of tourist tat I thought I'd left on the counter in the shop in Florence buried in the laundry. How that happened is a complete mystery to me.

I'm not entirely sure I'm firing on all cylinders here.

Fayolle

Morning all,

So much I want to comment on, but I will probably forget until after I press Post.

Narc0. - I’m not sure that the borwnies will get as far as the freezer. I haven’t let on that they are lentil based, and the first were devoured yesterday, with DH scarcely coming up for air or being able to believe his luck that I had actually filled the cake tin. I’m very impressed with your EV decision. All the information that is needed is putting me off - chargers, tariffs etc etc
HB, we went to Japan as DD had reluctantly moved on in her travels. Loved it and the people. I would go back like a shot. I have been watching Michael Portillo’s Japan train journey programme with envy and half an eye to planning a further trip in the future. We went on the Bernina Express sister line, and did pretty much all our travelling within Japan by rail, just a couple of coaches to get to more remote areas.
Iona, good decluttering of the voluntary job. They are a terror to get out of.
Blackcats - nice admin work! Mine is more of the boring and ISA renewal variety than booking a holiday.

I think that was it…back to yesterday where I meant to post and got waylaid. Another successful flying day. I think I even got to some level 3 items from yesterday’s list. In true form, my efforts for the rest of the week will now go downhill. However, every sink and basin was cleaned, including the kitchen and the utility. DH was out for a couple of hours, so my flying was most efficient. Bedding changed and washed, although the weather thwarted outside drying again. The afternoon was spent on admin catch up, including an ISA renewal with an exiting provider where the form had to be printed and sent by post…if I were transferring in from another provider, it could have been done electronically. Humph. Today we are out for lunch with DSis and BiL, which provides the perfect excuse for slacking off on flying.

Have a good day all.